


Letting Go

by justanotherfanaccount



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, F/M, Post War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherfanaccount/pseuds/justanotherfanaccount
Summary: It has been four months since the Fourth Great Shinobi War was won and life in Konoha is starting to go back to normal. But for one lone kunoichi, her life will never be the same again.
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji/Tenten
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Letting Go

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably one of the first fics I wrote for NejiTen, back in 2014. I didn't think Tenten got the chance to properly say goodbye in the manga, and I wanted to give her that opportunity. I don't often write angst (since I'm more of a fluff lover, myself) but I needed to write this - not just for Tenten's sake, but for my own.

The sky rumbled angrily, the clouds above thick with rain as a lone kunoichi sat in front of a memorial stone, her shirt clutched in her fists and her head bowed to the ground as she wept uncontrollably. She hadn't been to this gravestone since the war—she hadn’t been able to bring herself to see him until now—so she gave herself this opportunity to do so. She knew no one would come to the graveyard at this time and witness her breakdown. This would be the first—and last—time Tenten would allow herself this weakness.

"Why? Why did you leave me?" she sobbed, her fist connecting with the ground in front of her. "I didn't even get to say goodbye!"

The young female choked out another sob, unable to control herself. She had been bottling in her feelings for so long; now that she finally let them out, she couldn't stop. Her mind flashed back to when she was just a Genin and they had recently been made a team. _You were such a jerk back then,_ she thought ruefully.

.

.

.

_"You cannot win against me." The young Hyuga remarked, defeating his comrade once again. "You are a loser. And losers will never amount to anything."_

_The young kunoichi who had been sitting on the sidelines watching the match stood up to defend her friend. "Don't be so mean, Neji! We all know you're a genius but that doesn't give you the right to rub it in our faces! Lee is trying his best. Give him some encouragement!"_

_Her lavender eyed teammate looked over at her and scoffed. "How can I encourage someone who will always be a failure? I would just be wasting my breath."_

_Tenten balled her hands into fists and snarled at the lavender eyed boy. "How dare you! You're nothing but a self-centred jerk!" She walked over to her comrade who was struggling to rise and helped him up. "Come on, Lee. Let's go have lunch. My treat." She turned her back on the Hyuga prodigy, ignoring him as she helped her friend walk back to the village._

.

.

.

The heavens opened up and rain started to pelt down to the earth, soaking Tenten in seconds. She barely took note of the rain, though, and remained by the memorial stone, crying. Tenten didn't think she had the strength to stand anyway, her legs having gone numb from kneeling by the gravestone for so long.

It had been four months since they had won the Fourth Shinobi War and brought peace back to the ninja world. Since then, Tenten had been assigned various missions to help with the repair works, both in her own village and in others. She hadn't had time to let her emotions get the best of her. Besides, Tenten felt like she needed to be strong for the rest of her team, since they had always been more emotional than her.

"I need you!" She suddenly screamed, her fists slamming to the ground furiously. "Don't you understand that I needed you to live? I can't—" a choked sob ripped through her and Tenten felt her heart break all over again. "I can't live without you, Neji!" She gazed at his name on the memorial stone through blurry eyes and cried out. _You became such a great friend to me._ She thought, reaching out with a shaking hand to touch the engraved name.

.

.

.

_The duo had been training for most of the morning and the female Chuunin was getting tired. She collapsed back onto the ground and grinned at her comrade, the field once again destroyed by his technique._

_"I feel sorry for the poor guys that have to come and clean up this mess every time we finish training." She remarked laughingly, motioning for the Jounin to take a seat next to her._

_Neji smirked and walked towards his sparring partner, sitting down next to her gracefully. "Of course you would think of something random like that."_

_Tenten laughed and bumped her shoulder against his. "Whatever, Mr. Genius. Anyway, I'm exhausted. Do you want to go see how Lee and Guy-Sensei are doing with their training?"_

_Her comrade raised a do-you-really-want-to-check eyebrow at her. "And get caught up in whatever crazy training plan that they have come up with for today?" He reasoned._

_The kunoichi shuddered. "True, I didn't think of that. On second thought, let's not check up on them. Let's go grab some lunch instead." She grinned at her friend and he sighed, standing up and offering her a hand._

_"Fine, but we are having my favourite. And you are buying." The Hyuga prodigy smirked at the scandalised look on his comrade's face. Pouting, she took his hand and he helped her to her feet, dodging the punch he knew would be coming his way._

_"That's mean, Neji! You should be paying because you're supposed to be the gentleman."_

_Said 'gentleman' looked over his shoulder at her as he walked towards his favourite restaurant. "You're the one that wants to eat. I am more than happy to keep training."_

_The female caught up to her partner and folded her arms across her chest. "I take it back," she declared. "You are definitely not a gentleman." She mumbled incoherent profanities at him, and he couldn't help but chuckle at her childishness._

.

.

.

The memories were too much for the brunette and she collapsed, curling into a ball at the base of the memorial stone. The rain continued to fall but she took no notice of it, allowing it to mingle with her tears and wash them away. She finally managed to rise to her knees again after what felt like an eternity and she wiped her nose with the back of a mud stained sleeve, her tears finally slowing.

"N-Neji," she sniffled, pulling out a container and chopsticks from the bag she had brought with her. "I brought your favourite for you." She placed the herring soba in front of the memorial tomb, a sad smile touching her lips. "I don't think I ever had the chance to tell you this Neji, but I always admired you. You already knew you were a genius, but you were also a great person and an amazing friend." The kunoichi's eyes welled up again and she let out a sob. "Did you know that sometimes I wish that I could have died in your place? I would give anything to go back and switch places with you, Neji. I don't… I don't know how to live now that you're gone." She let out a soft, sad chuckle and shook her head at her own naiveté. "You know, I always figured that eventually we would end up together." Tenten broke out into another fit of sobs and had to wait until she could breathe normally again before continuing her speech.

The young female took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she wanted—no, _needed_ —to say next. "Neji, I never told you this, but I think you knew for a while. I mean, you were a genius, so I'm sure you figured it out a long time ago. But I need to say this otherwise I won't be able to let you go. And I _need_ to let you go. I can't live with this broken heart forever." Tenten tried to take a calming breath, but it came out shaky and exhausted.

"I love you. I loved you so much, Neji!" Her voice cracked and she buried her face in her hands, weeping.

The kunoichi stayed like that for a long time before she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She wiped her eyes and looked behind her to see Lee standing there, an umbrella now poised over her soaked body. She saw the tears form in his eyes and he knelt beside her, pulling her to him and cradling her head against his chest. They didn't say anything; just stayed there until the sun finally emerged again from behind the clouds.

"Tenten," Lee said softly, leaning back and touching a hand to her shoulder again. "Let us go home." He helped her to her feet and kept his arm around her as she stood, swaying lightly from exhaustion. "We will come and see Neji again next time."

Tenten nodded, letting her head fall on her friend's shoulder as they slowly walked away from the memorial stone. She allowed herself to look back and she pictured his beautiful form standing by the tomb. She imagined him smiling at her, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Then, he mouthed three little words before disappearing, and she let out another choked sob. Tenten clutched Lee's arm as they walked, knowing that she would never meet another man as wonderful and incredible as Neji had been. She glanced up towards the sky, watching as a bird flew across her vision. A feather came undone and landed softly in the palm of her hand.

Tenten closed her fist around the feather and kissed it. _Goodbye, my beautiful genius._

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review if you enjoyed it. I have another angsty NejiTen fic from 2014 that I need to look at and tweak before uploading, so if you're a fan of sad stories, please stay tuned.


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